This report from the Comptroller General to Congress is designed to assess the effectiveness of the Bilingual Education Program and to suggest ways to improve its administration. The program as originally conceived is described, and funding, participation, and recent legislative developments affecting bilingual education are discussed. It is stated that the program has progressed little towards its goals of (1) identifying bilingual education approaches, (2) adequately training bilingual education teachers, and (3) developing suitable instructional materials. The impact of the 1974 Education Amendments on this progress is discussed. The effect of the program on participating students, including an examination of the appropriateness of standardized tests is then outlined. Two main factors contributing to the poor performance of the target population are isolated: (1) the language of limited English-speaking children may not have been used enough in classroom instruction, and (2) there may be too many English-speaking children in project classrooms, diluting project effectiveness for target children. Inadequate monitoring and difficulty in assessing English language proficiency also constitute problems. Each section of the report is followed by GAO recommendations and by HEW comments. The appendices include a review of the characteristics of 1973-74 bilingual education projects and of parent and HEW stands on bilingual education. (CLK)